CARRIE WILLIAMS

BRAND + MARKETING

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Principal

Carrie recognizes the critical chemistry of the internal culture and non-marketing functions in creating a strong brand. She specializes in helping clients bring their brand to life in everything they do, so they can realize the opportunities inherent in this business asset. She has provided research, strategy, planning, and implementation support to position and progress her clients’ businesses for nearly 14 years.

SERVICES

  • Brand + Retail Audits
  • Consumer Research
  • Brand Foundation Development
  • Executive Level Strategic Planning
  • Cross-Functional Brand Planning, including Marketing Planning
  • Brand Implementation: Tools + Filters + Communications
  • Brand Management Coaching

Services provided by associates

  • Internal Communication Planning + Design
  • Message Development
  • Copy Writing
  • Graphic Design
  • Advertising Planning + Creative Development
  • Store Design + Project Management

CLIENTS

Smartwool, Sage, Buck Knives, Filson, Timberland, Batdorf + Bronson, Pendleton, Nordstrom, Ex Officio, The Space Needle, The Whitney Museum of American Art, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, The Broadway Market (Seattle, WA), and in Brazil, Redley and Cantao.

BACKGROUND

Carrie brings 20 years of on-staff experience in wholesale and retail sales, visual merchandising, and marketing to consulting. Her brand-driven career started at Ralph Lauren Womenswear and concluded after serving as the Product Development Marketing Manager at Nordstrom. At that time the Nordstrom private brand portfolio represented 1.2 billion dollars in retail sales and included Façonnable, Garbo, Callaway Golf Apparel, Hickey Freeman Shirts & Neckwear, Evergreen, and, Nordstrom labels. Carrie was responsible for developing and co-managing the creative services department, as well as the positioning strategies and marketing support for the stable of brands.

Her experience inbetween Ralph Lauren Womenswear and Nordstrom included serving as the Marketing Director of Unionbay Sportswear, where she was responsible for developing and staffing the in-store coordinator program, managing retail support programs–including shop-in-shop concepts, and overseeing advertising and PR for the then $200M company. She was also a principal in a trade show and retail design firm, serving clients that included Nike and Jantzen.

EXTRAS

Carrie graduated from the University of Washington, with a B.A. in Mass Communications.

She launched Brand Lab as a resource for her small to mid-size clients seeking support as they position, develop and evolve their brand. Through this entity she has provided support or council to international clients in France and Brazil, as well as pro-bono work for non-profit organizations including Basel Action Network + E-Stewards, and currently serves on the Marketing Advisory Council for the Bellevue, WA based Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE). She has also provided marketing support to local fund raising events benefiting Laurelhurst Elementary School and the Ravenna Park Playground Renovation.

Her family lives in Seattle where they enjoy the ease and ready access of the outdoors—from the backyard to the beach to the mountains. Her interests include communication and visual arts, travel, and food-based gatherings with family and friends.

  • “…what really separates her from other consultants and agencies is her ability to translate brand work into frameworks that can guide the marketing and product process...Carrie’s approach is the only one I’ve seen that truly helps execute the brand via products, people, and practices of the business.”
    David Visnack, Director of Marketing and Product Development, Far Bank
  • “If your brand is feeling a little lost, call Carrie. Better, call her before you're feeling a little lost; she'll help you tweak your focus to maximize what you already are doing really well and not stray off course. And, she'll make you feel really smart because she's all about empowering you and your project/company, not hers”
    Carol Davidson, VP Marketing, SmartWool
  • “Carrie understands the balance between marketing strategy and execution, and helps identify actionable plans that have their basis in deep brand insight. She is highly collaborative and works extremely well across the team.”
    Brent Brooks, Vice President of Marketing, Products and Services, Precor Inc